It sounds dumb when you hear it, doesn't it?
You think, "Why wouldn't she be able to be happy? It's her life." You understand how exhausting and painful it is when a relationship is toxic, so you fake applaud her when she finally finds a way out. You're happy for her, but not too happy. When you see her move on to a new relationship, your acting comes to a halt.
"She definitely cheated on him," you gossip. "No one moves on that fast."
We've heard this a lot on social media lately, particularly with Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson's fast-paced romance. Everyone threw a fit, saying "What about Mac?" as if they had any insight on the situation whatsoever. Ariana opened up about reasons to her and Miller's breakup, claiming it was toxic and even scary at times.
We've seen this time and time again on the Hollywood level where women are shamed for moving on, but we see it on our own level with people our age and react the same way. What we fail to realize is just how long a relationship that unhappy is over before it's officially over. We would rather it stay that way than allow her to be happy in a different relationship than the one we knew before and were accustomed to.
Just like after any breakup, you have to move on. When you're in a relationship that's that unhappy for that long, you forget what being treated like feels like, what it looks like. You forget what love feels like. You're made aware of all the crap you put up with for however long, and you realize how long ago it should've ended. When you finally have the strength to move on, the last thing you want to hear is people gossiping about how "quick" it was, no matter what that time period even was.
Leave Ariana and Pete alone. Leave the girls you know alone. Hell, leave the guys you know alone, too, if they're the ones in this situation. You don't know what a suffocating relationship is like until you're in one, so you have no right to criticize. If it takes a few months or if it only takes a week for someone to move on from their previous toxic relationship, that doesn't affect you at all. What matters is that they're happy now.
If you're in an abusive relationship of any kind at any level, realize you're strong and you have the power to leave and make yourself happier whether that's in another relationship or not. Let people live their lives. Girls, don't listen to the people who would rather you be hurt and unhappy in a toxic relationship than better off with someone else.